Mara
The truth had landed like a hammer blow. None of us had seen it coming. Vander took it the hardest—his whole world crumbled in an instant. Twenty-three years married to someone who wasn’t truly his. Twenty-three years of believing in a bond that was never real. We had to sedate him and admit him to the hospital. There was no protocol for something like this. No precedent. Just raw disbelief.
Lucian turned to Lacy, his voice steady but laced with urgency.
“How old are you, Lacy?”
She hesitated, then met his gaze.
“Twenty-four,” she said quietly.
I nearly lost it. The truth finally laid bare—I knew it all along. My heart leapt in my chest, but I held back. One look around the room told me celebration would be cruel. The weight of revelation pressed down on everyone.
“Tiffany, I t
